Thursday, February 19, 2009

Pulp Mill workers may lose Pension! Bad news again!

Our Defined Benefit Pension program is in danger of being turned over to the Federal Government in the near future. Milliman Inc. is the carrier and the phone number to contact is 1-503-227-0634. If you are at least 55 years of age and have 30 years of service or a combination that equals 85, please contact them and start the process to start collecting funds.

Our Defined Benefit Package may be turned over to the feds to manage. If that happens then the feds will convert it over to annuities. When that happens those who are not actively collecting will get a reduced amount on what they had coming come retirement time. It would be wise for those who can start collecting on that account to do so now. There are only two trustees left on that account. They are David Tsang and Sam Wong. The way the process works is if you wish to start collecting on that account you need to contact one of the trustees and tell them you wish to start the paper work and they will call our administrator to get things rolling. David’s number is 707-496-0089 and Sam’s is 707-496-0438.

Some of you may be management now that were hourly a few years ago. Be sure to call to check on your status quickly!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. That doesn't sound too good, Richard.

I wish you the best in trying to protect those pensions. You guys put in the years and earned it!

Anonymous said...

Richard,

Did you workers also invest into a 401K savings program under Evergreen?

If so, I wondered how that was doing?

Anonymous said...

Yo - Richard, you voted for Barky, now deal with it.

samoasoftball said...

Our 401k accounts will be individual accounts in the near future. We will have a chance to roll them over. What's left in some of our accounts. I have lost tens of thousands. Just makes me sick.

Voted for Barky? Huh?

Anonymous said...

Richard,

I see on CNN today that over 70,000 plants have closed over in China recently and that 20 million people there have lost their jobs as a result.

Maybe Bob will want to focus more on the domestic markets if and when he gets the pulp mill up and running again.

Also doesn't sound like these Chinese companies will be starting up anytime soon.

Anonymous said...

See where they have also noted that the market could fall as low as around 4,000 before the end of the year before bottoming out. It is just too hard to tell at this point.

Gosh, it took another hard hit this week, even losing another 100 points before closing today.

Spot price for Gold over 1,000 today!

Ouch!

rick mitchell said...

Check this out what they are talking about everybodies 401ks and IRAs.


Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security
Administration

http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/dems-target-private-retirement-accounts.html

samoasoftball said...

2:48pm-Bob has said he would like to form a domestic market, and go for a "green" TCF product that can be processed into finished product on the west coast.

Rick-This is happening right now! I just called Milliman and our accounts are frozen, and today I have learned the feds will be taking over our 401's and freezing the accounts for 18 months! Ouch.

Anonymous said...

Thank God that THAT they didn't privatize social security the way they wanted to and put that into the stock market as well.

Thinking back on it now, just think how much more worse off we all would have been had that happened!

Once they would have got their greedy hands onto that S.S.I. money, they would have squandered it all away too, like the way they have, skimming off the IRAs and 401K, mutual funds savings, etc.

And you sure don't hear them talking about privatizing these days, do you?

Frankly, where is the bailout to all of the investors whom lost massive amounts of dollars in these 'so called' retirement accounts.

The government should keep GITMO open and lock up everyone responsible for this financial calamity in the same cells which they once housed the alleged terrorists.

And these were supposed to be our own countrymen- 'pillars' of the community if you will. Did they forget that we were 'at a time of war' when they were setting our nation up for a terrible financial free fall?!?

Regular folks now nearing retirement, can not, because of the greedy actions of others. Like I noted above, stop dragging the financial wizards up to Capitol hill for hearings. Instead, ship them off to GITMO, where they belong with the rest of the damn terrorists trying to do harm to our country!

After what has happened in the market lately, traditional pension programs should be re-examined and re-implemented.

Until there is more control, 401k's and IRAs should be a second or last option.

Anonymous said...

and today I have learned the feds will be taking over our 401's and freezing the accounts for 18 months! Ouch.


Please tell us more about this! Who did you hear this from, etc. I am a former employee who rolled an existing 401 into Evergreen, so I am EXTEMELY interested in knowing more details!!!!

samoasoftball said...

9:03pm-I will let you know when I know more.

Anonymous said...

Richard,

What happens if any former pulp mill employee needs to access that 401K money for any reason, such as they exhausted their savings while the mill stays down and they are not able to find another job during the current economic downturn?

It's hard to imagine that the 401K funds can be frozen like that and not accessible to the individuals investing in them.

Anonymous said...

Just FYI rather than a response to this unhappy local situation: the Annenberg Public Policy Center has a (fairly damning) fact check of the Carolina Journal article rick linked to.

Anonymous said...

Wow!! The Dow took another big hit today. Wonder if it will go below 7,000 this week?

Anonymous said...

Here is another "fact check'. This is another way for politicians to get ahold of our money. You cannot manage your money, so the govt. will do it for you. It will be nothing more than a way to keep social security afloat. So, we will get a social security check and a govt. 401k check? Give me a break.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the government guarenteed pension, either.